


Prepare for Trouble

by flightinflame



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Original Percival Graves & Theseus Scamander Friendship, POV Outsider, twin based shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-22 14:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9610565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: Auror Davidson was really quite worried by the man that was before her.  Scamander had rushed in this morning flustered, his usual peacock blue coat replaced by one of the same cut, but in a darker green.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Never before have I seen a prompt and /had/ to fill it right away. Title from pokemon, because I am trash

Auror Davidson was really quite worried by the man that was before her. Scamander had rushed in this morning flustered, his usual peacock blue coat replaced by one of the same cut, but in a darker green. His battered case hung by his side, and he smiled. His gaze didn’t meet hers, but that was hardly unusual. He was fidgeting where he stood.  
“Do you want some tea Mister Scamander?” She asked, and his smile grew brighter and he nodded.  
“That would be spectacular, thank you.” He was as polite as always, and she quickly fetched him a drink in his favourite cup – the one with basilisks painted on the side. He turned it in his hands as he sipped, eyes lighting up in sheer enthusiasm.

“Basilisks are truly remarkable creatures. Incredibly powerful of course, but so easy to produce it’s a wonder that we don’t get dark wizards trying to use them every day. Basilisk cases do tend to tidy themselves up quite nicely. Odd colouration on this one. Normally the eyes aren’t blue, perhaps it is a variant. …” She was used to him rambling about basilisks, it was a familiar topic, but something about his words worried her. He seemed to notice, and took another sip of the liquid, his nose screwing up just a little in dislike. He was too polite to say of course, and the cup at least distracted him.

“Are you working on anything interesting at the moment Auror…” He fumbled for her name and she sighed, trying not to be hurt by the fact he had forgotten again.  
“Davidson.”  
“Oh yes! Davidson. Great work with the escaped Runespoor, and some marvellous detective work with that evisceration curse, real headscratcher that one. And I hear you survived a curse designed to remove your lungs – gave yourself gills and dove into the river? Bloody smart move there.”

Davidson nodded, suddenly a little tense. There was something clearly wrong with Newt. She hoped he hadn’t been listening to too much of the office gossip – someone or other was always saying that Newt wasn’t good enough for the director, that they had little in common. It seemed that he had been studying the director’s case notes. He swung his case around in front of him.  
“Sorry, you probably didn’t want to talk about that, it must have been painful, but really excellent thinking.” He looked down at the floor, and she reached out to squeeze his hand.  
“It’s alright.” She told him quickly. “I don’t mind.”  
“Thanks.” He grinned before beginning to monologue. Unfortunately, this monologue wasn’t about the different breeds of puffskein.

“Now, what is the training program you’ve been using for junior aurors? There’s been some horrible modifications to the slugulus curse floating around Europe. People’ve been expelling slugs made of raw meat, or on fire. Even _anapneo_ can’t help if you’re choking on fire. _Confringo_ is always an issue, quite messy when things explode while you’re working with them. And there’s been some remarkable charmed objects. I was studying a pair of shoes which forced the wearer to dance until they died of exhaustion, and-“

“Mister Scamander.” The director greeted him, and Davidson felt a sudden wave of relief sweep through her. He could fix this, get Newt to calm down and return to his normal adorable self, overenthusiastic about something other than how humans could torture each other. She already missed his enthusiasm being focussed on animals. “It has been too long.” The director continued, and Davidson cursed under her breath.

They had argued. And Newt was desperately trying to repair their relationship by trying to turn himself into the kind of man the department had expected the director to end up with.  
“It has.” Newt agreed, reaching out to embrace the director.

“Should I worry?” Came a very very familiar voice from the doorway, and Davidson turned to find herself faced with Newt Scamander. She looked back to the figure who was embracing her boss. He didn’t look at all surprised, which ruled out an illusion. And if Grindelwald was trying to infiltrate MACUSA, she could only assume he would make a better job of it.

“Not at all.” Her boss answered. “I was just greeting your brother. Theseus, I see you’ve met Auror Davidson?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved this universe so much I had to write more twin-shenanigans.

Percival smiled across the table at Newt, and at his brother. He was grateful that their parents had insisted on colour coding them in their childhood, and that it had stuck - while a minute’s conversation with either of them would have revealed their identity, he would have hated to sneak up on the wrong brother.

Theseus was twirling his wand between his fingers absentmindedly, letting Newt talk about the care program he had put in place for his nundu, only occasionally asking questions about various poisons and potions created from a nundu's venom. Newt's own fingers were busy as well, twisting beneath the table - one of the several mannerisms that marked them apart. While all of Percival's aurors had been startled by their similarities, he was always left in awe of the brothers' differences.

Not in appearance. He'd seen them both naked (Newt deliberately and repeatedly, Theseus when they were trying to escape from a burning potion) and the two of them looked almost the same if you ignored the tracery of scars that ran across both bodies. Newt had a small birthmark on his leg, and Theseus's freckles extended further across his back, but otherwise they would have looked the same before a multitude of frightened animals and evil curses had scarred them. 

Newt's scars were mostly claw and bite marks, thin lines that trailed across his skin. Here and there was the occasional burn of a curse, from a smuggler he had interrupted, but mostly Newt's were natural scars. Theseus's weren't. They were closer to the marks that Percival himself wore, of torture and anger, dark wizards lashing out and not caring the damage that they had done.  
No, the differences that awed Percival were in their souls. In the way that while both brothers were intelligent, they had devoted themselves to their different callings. How Theseus, older and more outgoing, would position himself before Newt, ready to fight - even when he shared his brother's inability to meet strangers in the eye. When you knew them, even aside from their obsessions, the differences were clear. Newt was a creator. He made the case, a space of light and hope. Theseus had a case that was identical from outside, but his was a vault for dark magic, filled with objects too dangerous to be left alone. Theseus called Newt the light in his life sometimes, when they had written when they were younger. There had been a time Percival had thought he would fall for Theseus, before too much pain and sorrow robbed them of that chance.

Then Newt had arrived, and Percival understood why Theseus would go to war to protect him.

Newt smiled, reaching across the table and squeezing Percival's hand.  
"You alright?"  
"I'm fine," he answered. "You?"  
Newt nodded.  
"And how do you feel about the book signing later?" Percival pressed, remembering how anxious Newt had been the previous night. A look passed between the brothers, and Newt smiled.  
"I'm feeling alright about it."

 

***

The thing was, Newt actually liked talking about creatures, to people who would listen. When he was talking to someone who showed even a slight interest, the problem was less how to get him to talk, and more how to get him to stop. But unfortunately the book tour hadn't just been people asking questions about the creatures. A lot of them wanted to know about him, about Grindelwald, about why Newt got thrown out of Hogwarts, and those were topics Newt didn't want to cover.

The other problem was that there were a lot of people there. People who would lean in close, and expect to be looked at. Newt liked writing the book, and he understood that in order for people to read it, it had to be promoted. He didn't mind making himself jump through these hoops if it meant that creatures would be saved. He'd sacrifice his happiness for the safety of creatures in a heartbeat. But it was tiring.

He'd stand in front of crowds and answer their prying questions and try to smile, and shake hand after hand, and do everything he was meant to because it meant books were sold. Occasionally, there were moments of joy. He'd draw a fwooper in a child's copy of the book, or talk to an older witch about the kneazle she'd kept as a young woman, and he clung to those moments. Those were what would remind him this was worth doing.

He stared at the cooking, watching it prepare itself as he tried to ready his speech for the day ahead. He'd left Percival in their bed, knowing he needed the rest. Theseus approached, wrapping his arms around Newt and resting his head on Newt's shoulder.  
"Hey tadpole."  
Newt drove his elbow back and his brother dodged, laughing. Theseus grinned.  
"You look well rested."  
"Leave it," Newt warned, feeling his face heat up a little. He was a married man, he didn't need to be embarrassed that his brother knew he was sharing a bed with his husband. He still was.

"How are you feeling about the signing?" Theseus asked, and Newt rolled his eyes. Theseus laughed, and squeezed his shoulder.  
"You know, I'm meant to be cataloguing some of MACUSA's magical objects today, pelts and traps and the like. Lots of boring paperwork."

Newt stared, and Theseus nodded.  
"I'll deal with the people if you fill in the forms."

Newt embraced Theseus tightly for a few moments, before going to dish up breakfast. He felt lighter somehow, as the anxiety he had felt before dropped away, leaving him free of concern. He wasn't going to have to face the curious eyes and questions for one day at least. 

"You sure you know it?"  
"Newt, we shared a room before we went to Hogwarts. I proofread your first draft. I know about your creatures. Not as good as you do. But better than any of the rest of them out there."

Newt nodded, managing to get sat down for breakfast just as Percival arrived. He didn't bother mentioning the plan to him - he knew that Percival was good with crowds, and didn't want to make it obvious how much he struggled. Anyway, Percival had meetings all day, he wouldn't know until later.

The Scamander parents had brought up both boys to be strong believers in the idea that it was always better to beg forgiveness than ask permission, and this was one of the times that they were going to put it into practice. Newt knew Theseus would be able to pull it off, and his own expertise with identifying creature parts would be just as useful as his brother's.

***

Theseus checked over the notes Newt had given him before he took to the stage. He knew he could do this - his main concern was appearing overly confident. He was relaxed when he faced a challenge - like Newt found peace in his case, he found his security when he was on the battlefield, commanding the men and women he served with. 

Newt's agent smiled at him and passed him some water.  
"Drink up, it won't be so bad this time."  
"Thank you," he mumbled, and stepped out onto the stage. He backed up slightly from the glare of the spotlight, gazing out at the sea of faces beyond. It took him all of twenty seconds to notice that one of the faces that was looking directly at him was Percival.

Swallowing down his anxiety, he made his way to the chair that was waiting for him, sitting down and wrapping his arms around his chest, taking a couple of deep breaths before he began.  
"Thank you all for coming."

***

Despite what Theseus clearly thought, Percival knew he wasn't watching his husband on the stage. Theseus was the one who was standing there, talking to the crowd surprisingly calmly. He handled the questions about the creatures easily enough, his head bowed as he answered, careful to correct misconceptions.

Percival would have appreciated being told that Theseus would be taking this particular lecture before he had chosen to leave his meetings early, but he couldn't really mind, not with the knowledge that this was Theseus's way of sparing his brother some of the stress he lived with daily. Theseus feared crowds, but Newt feared them more, and this was mercy.

So he watched, and he smiled, planning to tell Theseus he had done well. Theseus's impersonation of his brother was almost perfect, and Percival wondered whether Newt could do the reverse half as well.

***

Newt was happy, sorting through the archives. It was distressing to consider how many creatures had lost their lives to create the collection of seized evidence, but he knew his work would both protect creatures and potentially save lives. He worked through a third crate, jotting down some notes.

He knew his brother would have despised doing this, seen it as a waste of time, but it was important. Life couldn't always be the glamour and the spotlight that Theseus was so at home in. Sometimes it was slow work, and organising files, and building up evidence.

Newt chuckled to himself, hearing Percival's voice as he said that. He allowed himself a few moments of amusement before he returned to work.

He paused as a door crashed open, and one of the junior aurors raced inside.  
"Auror Scamander."  
Newt was on his feet, drawing his brother's wand. The weight felt wrong in his hand, but it would work well enough if they were faced with an emergency.  
"What's wrong?"  
"There's been an attack," the man gasped. "We can't find Director Graves."

Newt nodded, pushing fear from his husband aside as he strode out into the hallway, getting the man to brief him. He knew that at a moment like this, Theseus had to take control. If they found him cowering away, it would mean the aurors would be putting their own lives at risk - it might even fail to convince them.  
"Someone send off a patronus to find the Director," he ordered, already sending up a shielding charm as he paced forwards. He hoped he might find himself facing some kind of creature, something that he could manage. That was not to be.

***

Percival applauded, crossing the room to take a glass of wine and wrap his arm around Theseus's waist, leaning in. Theseus tensed, clearly expecting him to go for a kiss, and Percival smirked.  
"I knew it," he whispered. "You did well out there."  
"Thanks-" Theseus answered, then paused as a small silver cat scurried across the floor, stopping in front of Percival.  
"Director, we are under attack. Auror Scamander is leading the counter but we need your assistance." Message delivered, the creature faded from view.

Percival stared wide eyed, and grabbed Theseus's arm, apparating with him away from the crowd at the book store. Newt was going to be struggling, he was sure of it. His mind filled with images of his husband lying dead, and he tried to resist the urge to panic. He had to be the one in control here. He hurried with Theseus back to MACUSA, bursting in and finding a full blown fight in the middle of the entranceway. He joined in immediately, his magic seeking out the ringleaders of the attack binding them. As he did so, his eyes scanned the chaos.

They fell on the form of Newt in his brother's green robes. He was holding a wand that was not his own, ordering the American Aurors to close in. The fight was nearly over, and it was MACUSA's men and women who were winning. 

Percival provided support, as did Theseus. The attackers were incapacitated one by one, Newt sending counters to any spell that threatened to hit the aurors, and his defence allowed them to focus on the attack. His face was calm, as at peace as it was in the case. After a few moments the fight was over, and Theseus ran towards him, embracing him as cheers erupted. Percival took control, ordering the enemy to be sent to the cells, and then approaching Newt and Theseus, ushering them to a side room where they could change back.

Newt embraced him.  
"Did I do okay?"  
"You were incredible," Percival answered, kissing him softly. Theseus snorted and walked out, to be greeted by cheers.

***

Newt looked shyly at his husband, who handed him a cup of coffee in his favourite basilisk mug. Percival shook his head fondly.  
"I can't believe you did that."  
"Which bit?" Newt queried, a faint smile on his lips. Percival seemed to consider his options. 

"I'm not surprised that you decided to avoid the book talk, I know you're not exactly enthusiastic about them," Percival explained. "But I never thought you would be able to just casually lead the aurors like that, it was..." Percival smiled and shook his head, and Newt felt himself blushing in response.  
"Thank you. I mean, Theseus is better at imitating me, but in an emergency-"  
"You did good," Percival reassured, his hand resting on Newt's shoulder. "I was very impressed."

Theseus whined.  
"I wasn't impressed," he murmured. "I got stuck lecturing and you got to have an exciting day!"

Newt laughed, handing his tea over to his brother so that he could take a sip. Theseus sipped it and rolled his eyes.  
"If you're ever planning to do that again you two, let me know," Percival said firmly. "We left MACUSA without a top-level auror."  
"I'm sorry," Newt mumbled, and was reassured by Percival's arms around him.

"I was impressed by you," Percival answered. "I just need you both to work with me."  
"I can do that," Newt agreed, kissing him softly, as Theseus muttered in the background, engaging in conversation with Pickett about Newt's ridiculousness.


End file.
